Sunday, July 8, 2012

I’ll keep this short and sweet. While
you are reading through this blog, click on one of the playlist links to open your
favourite music player, so as to simply hear the best music online being played
via The Torch Society.

You can also visit The Torch Society’s
homepage to find out the program schedules etc - The Torch Society - Homepage

Saturday, July 7, 2012

The term "Keep
The Faith" for people like me is a lifestyle. It demands the deepest
of respect, a non-judgmental attitude that cannot be found anywhere else
throughout the entire world, that has no politics nor religion and yet,
requires a belief in something so sacrosanct, that no matter who you are,
"we" are all equal in our own eyes!

Nothing, and believe
me for I have searched high and low for it elsewhere in the world, can equal
the longest running underground music scene in the world! We do not have any
secret handshakes or passwords to enter into this world. We do not place value
in a person’s status, wealth, beliefs or religion. Once you enter and succumb
to the world of Northern Soul, your life will and can never be the same again.

Northern Soul is
"not" a religion. It does not ask of you to confess your sins or to
follow a doctrine. It asks "nothing" of you whatsoever. But once you
are caught within its web, there's simply no alternative. I have been a devout
follower, a missionary of "The Faith" for nearly 40 years, and though
my words may resound of religion, religion can never truly copy its heart.

This blog has only one
true purpose in its life; to bring together and keep alive on an ongoing basis,
the factual details of the origins and stars of Northern Soul - the rarest of
rare soul - and to give you the chance to feel the absolute enjoyment of
listening to this music by 24/7 streaming radio - thanks to The Torch Society.

The "The
Torch Society" is simply the best and truest online radio station
providing 24/7 non-stop playing of the broadest range of original R'n'B, Blues
and Soul (s-p-e-l-t Northern or Rare Soul) and a dash of Funk, and compliments this
blogs objective, which is simply to collate and offer you in one location, the
best resource of information on the history of this music and its unknown
heroes.

If you want to know
about an artist or band, a record label, a music genre associated with Northern
Soul or you simply want to take a trip down memory lane to see, know and
understand what it was like to be at The Twisted Wheel, Wigan Casino, The Cat's
Whiskers, Blackpool's Mecca, Stafford's Top Of The World, The Torch, The 100
Club or to complete a Cleethorpe’s Weekender, this is the place to come.

This blogs intention
is not to reinvent the wheel. The articles you will read are written by others (as
will be shown) and all thanks go to the original writers and their hard work, but
they are spread across and throughout the internet. I’m just putting them under
one roof.

This
blog needs your help though.
Any articles you come across or that you have written and think that they
deserve a place within the “Soul Hall
of Fame”, send them to me here @ therhythmandbluesofsoul@gmail.com.
Any old pictures of artists or albums, record scans, CD covers, tracklists,
soul night and allnighter flyers, patches, old record lists for sale, photo’s of
soul clubs, paraphernalia etc, send them all here. Any stories of your experiences
or information that has historical content that needs placing within this “Library of Northern Soul”, send
them here.

Be assured that this blog has
no commercial aims whatsoever and it is purely meant to act as a single
resource for historical informational purposes. All articles, memorabilia,
photographs etc are neither for sale or to be used from this blog for any
commercial reasons, and you should seek permissions wherever required with
reference to copyrights etc. if you wish to do so.

This project is a
massive undertaking and only with your help and contributions can we
ever hope to realize the end result of having an “RnB to Soul Vault”, a historical depository that will not
only cover the music and the artists, but the people that this music has so
impassioned through the millions of weekly and monthly held events over the
last 50 years. Let’s make history together and bring it all together so that
everything about it will never be forgotten. Keep
The Faith!!